SDG 4. Quality Education

• Centre for Higher Education Development and Training
• University of Bucharest Learning Centre (UB Learning Centre)
• “University of Bucharest Graduate Employment Observatory” Research Centre

• Building and managing the Science Education Community in Europe by promoting Inquiry-Based Science Education, Faculty of Physics
• MARPE Diplo – Developing a European higher education curriculum in public, corporate and civic diplomacy, Faculty of Journalism and Communication Science

• The University of Bucharest aims both to provide resources to the wider community and to develop programmes and actions for a variety of students, including non-traditional students and potential students. In concrete terms, it provides free access to educational resources for those not studying at the university including courses, access to educational resources and lectures, as exemplified by the following examples.

Access to courses:

• At the same time, the university is also developing learning programmes to update the skills of its staff. Some of these activities include:
• Through the UB SEED programme – Educational Support for Disadvantaged Students – the University of Bucharest offers educational resources to students from underprivileged backgrounds. Some of the resources provided include online courses offered by teachers/students/graduates of the University of Bucharest so that the syllabus specific to national evaluation is properly covered; mentoring offered by students or graduates of the University of Bucharest, who guide and support the students in their school course; events that include training and socialization activities, summer schools, workshops; material support (laptop, school supplies) and the reimbursement of expenses undertaken for academic purposes.
• Free training courses offered by the teachers and students of the University of Bucharest, together with high school teachers, for high school students preparing for the baccalaureate exam and candidates for the entrance exam for bachelor studies, the faculties of the University of Bucharest.
• Measures to support lifelong learning include UniBuc Peer learning. The programme, launched in 2021, included training/peer learning sessions for academic staff on subjects regarding publishing, project writing & project management, data analysis, and innovative pedagogies. A similar programme has been developed for administrative staff, with courses relevant to their field of work.

Access to educational resources:

• Several of UB’s educational resources are available to the public outside the university. The Educational Resources section of the institutional website provides access to e-books published by UB faculties, UB journals and yearbooks, as well as the web catalogue of books digitised as part of the project Recovery of Anglicistics in Romania. This section of the UB website also includes the Virtual History Library (Unibuc CLASSICA), a library containing valuable works for both students studying history and the general public interested in the field. The same section provides links to international databases that those interested (both members of the university community and people from outside) can consult and use for writing scientific papers or for documentation, and that is accessible without an institutional account. Another important resource is the Digital Archive of the Museum of the University of Bucharest (DAMUB), which makes available to the public unpublished documents in digital format from the heritage of the Museum of the University of Bucharest.

Access to lectures:

• The Communication of Science is a programme addressed to the general public, and accessible to all interested parties. The programme is the University of Bucharest’s answer to all those who want to know more about science, cutting-edge research and its concrete results, and about the applicability and relevance of research to real life. Thus, the Communication of Science Programme primarily involves the organisation of events dedicated to researchers, science enthusiasts and the general public to promote scientific activities and results, as well as the creation of content related to the different fields of science (articles, audio or video interviews, reports and other promotional materials). The events are open to all interested parties, and recordings of the events are available on the UB Youtube In the academic year 2020-2021 the following conferences have been organised:
  – “Challenges from 7000 years ago”;
  – “The truly disadvantaged. Where to direct social solidarity”;
  – “What use does geography have? In praise of maps and territorial analysis”;
  – “How free can the society of free and rational people be? Freedom and democracy”.
• The Interdisciplinary School of Doctoral Studies, organised a series of conferences, with topics that included Pathologies of Explanation. Against Conspiracy Theories, Deviating from the norm once again: Socio-economic decisions in depression and anxiety, Cognition in Language: Verbs of Physical Contact in Romanian, and others.
• Laboratory of Clinical Cognitive Sciences constantly organises events and webinars dedicated to mental health and well-being. In 2020-2021, subjects covered include: The Riddle Brain (Dragoș Cîrneci), How anxiety gets us sick (Ovidiu Bobei), Shame and guilt: How do they affect us and how do we deal with them? (Andreea Luca), Chronic diseases – Scientifically validated psychological approaches in assessment and treatment (Simona Pascal),  The impact of technology on eating behaviour (Ioana Podina),  Irrationality/Cognitive Distortions in Anxiety – How do we overcome our fears? (Alina Chivu), The couple in pandemic times (Ana Toma), How our emotions and thinking influence our eating behaviour (Ana Anghelescu), Does every (Insta)Gram count? – The Effect of Social Networks on Eating Behaviours (Ștefan Heller), How to learn better according to cognitive psychology (Alexandru Pană), Wellness science – obstacles and strategies (Denisa Boroi) .

• The University of Bucharest hosts events at the university that are open to the general public, including:
• Since 2018, the University of Bucharest organises the Summer School of Science and Technology in Măgurele, dedicated to high school students, teachers in the STEM area (physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, computer science, geography, technologies) and school counselors in middle and high school. The 2021 edition took place from 21 August to 4 September 2021, during which participants benefited from project-based learning experiences, teamwork, lab visits, workshops, debates and a focus on quantum technologies and their impact on societal development.
• In December 2020 took place the first edition of TEDxUniversity Of Bucharest. The thematic concept of this evis ent, Mind the Gap. Creating (Comm)Unity, was designed to highlight the differences between how we imagine an ideal, just world and the journey we have to take from decision-making to action to achieve this ideal. This edition’s lectures included: The power of social networks in spreading COVID-19 (Marian-Gabriel Hâncean), Everyday citizen (Marian Rădună), About disability and justice (Mircea Dumitru), About illness, empathy, and infodemics (Anamaria Nicola), How we create bridges in building an inclusive society (Alex Cucu), How I fought statistics and came out on top (Cătălina Olteanu), My generation is building (Robert Stredie). The event was available to the general public, both live and as recordings (on the University’s Facebook and YouTube accounts).
• In September 2021, the University of Bucharest participated, together with some of the largest research institutes and some of the most important higher education institutions in Romania, in the Night of Researchers, a traditional event that aims to bring science closer to the general public. The themes of this year’s event were ReCoN-nect – The Green Deal, which focused on science’s efforts to give the planet a greener future, and Opening Up Science, a tribute to science that is opening up society.
• The Museum of the University of Bucharest is included in the Long Night of Museums

• The University of Bucharest offers executive education programmes open to the general public through its Lifelong Learning study offer for postgraduate programmes.
• The study offer includes the following 8 programmes: Modern Approaches in Special Education, Leadership and Management Skills, Applied Psychology in Diplomacy and International Relations, Library and Information Science, Theoretical Analysis of Administrative Code Regulations, Foundations of Geographic Information Systems, Advanced Geographic Information Systems, Educational Leadership for Sustainable Transformation. Additionally, the UB Lifelong Learning offer also includes several professional conversion programmes in: Geography of Tourism (long distance), History Professional Conversion Programme (long distance), Primary and Pre-school Education Pedagogy.
• The Ariel Language Centre of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Bucharest organises language courses for different levels, which can be attended by interested people from outside the university. At the end of a level, students receive a certificate of participation which mentions the type and duration of the course, as well as the grade obtained at the end of the final evaluation.

• The University of Bucharest undertakes educational outreach activities beyond campus, both as initiatives from the central level but also through its numerous faculties, departments, centres and of course, the members of the community:
• To be more accessible to the wide public but also to meet the changing requirements of the labour market, the University of Bucharest has opened three branches outside the Bucharest university centre: at Focșani offering study programmes in Business administration, Tourism geography, Primary and early childhood pedagogy, at Drobeta Turnu Severin has a study programme in Territorial planning, and at Buzău a study programme in Primary and early childhood pedagogy. Through these programmes, the university provides its graduates with a greater stability concerning the labour market by providing them access to the highest quality educational services, while contributing more broadly to the reduction of poverty and social inequalities in the areas where they were established.
• The University of Bucharest (Faculties of Geography and Biology) and the National Bilingual College “George Coșbuc” in Bucharest organised the project PULCHRA – Science in Urban Environments: building community Centres for participatory learning through research and activation. Through the PULCHRA project, the high school students were encouraged and supported to get directly involved in the research of environmental challenges specific to Bucharest.
• The Faculty of Geography of the University of Bucharest was a partner in the project Teen Talk – The courage to talk about yourself, in which, in October 2020, non-formal education activities were carried out at the High School with Sports Programme in Câmpulung Muscel.
• With the occasion Night of the Researchers event, the Faculty of Chemistry and the Association of Chemistry Students of the University of Bucharest, in collaboration with the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Romanian ACS International Chapter, Eduland and Playouth organised the Chemistry Festival – ACS 2021.
• From 29 July to 1 August 2021, the University of Bucharest organised the first edition of the ECOcamp ecology camp for high school students. The event took place at the Ecological Research Station Braila of the Research Centre for Systemic Ecology and Sustainability (CESSU) of the University of Bucharest but also included a field trip to the Balta Mică Natural Park of Braila. The project was sponsored by Kaufland Romania and organised in partnership with Laboratorul de Oportunidades, an association that organises annual projects for high school students from all over the country.
• The UNESCO International Geopark Tara Hațegului is an outdoor laboratory for formal and non-formal education, targeting pupils and students. To encourage interdisciplinary learning, they have created the informal EduGeoparc network, in partnership with the Hunedoara County School Inspectorate, which includes schools in the Geopark territory. Through this network, the “EduGEoparc Science School” was implemented, which involves a network member school inviting a recognised researcher/scientist to an online discussion to tell the other member schools about his/her research. The volunteer programme initiated by the Geopark in 2013 has become a national and international model. Since the programme’s inception, more than 300 young people have been officially enrolled in the programme on a contractual basis, with the University of Bucharest issuing VoluntPass certificates for those who complete a certain number of volunteer hours. Since 2016 the most motivated volunteers are trained to become Geopark Ambassadors. It is a unique programme in the Global Geoparks Network (GGN) and a model for other territories.
• The Dimitrie Brândză Botanical Garden organises numerous educational programmes specific to its sphere of activity and open to the local community. Many of these programmes are dedicated to children, such as “Little Botanist” or “Healthy food – all about fruit and vegetables”. They also created and promoted the event “Urban Refuge@Botanical Garden”, a cultural and recreational project dedicated to all Bucharest residents who love music, movies, art in general and which aims to develop creativity and social interactions, but also to diversify the cultural offer available in Bucharest.
• The Career Counselling and Guidance Centre of the University of Bucharest organises periodic career education events in high schools in Bucharest and in the country.

• All the activities mentioned above, and many others that are being organised by the university, are accesible to all, regardless of ethnicity, religion, disability, immigration status or gender.
• The Charter of the University of Bucharest (art. 19, par. 1 and 2) establishes the conditions of access to the university community, as follows: “Access to the university community by admission as a student or by occupying a teaching or research position, as well as the exercising of managerial functions is free, under the conditions of the law, and may not be prevented or restricted for reasons of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political or religious conviction. Student access to a study programme or course presupposes the existence of a certain level of knowledge, duly specified in the conditions of enrolment, or a minimum number of students.”
• Moreover, Art. 11, letter d of the Code of Ethics and Deontology of the University of Bucharest specifies that it is forbidden in the university community to discriminate, understood as any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference, based on race, nationality, ethnicity, language, religion, social category, beliefs, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, illness of any kind, belonging to a disadvantaged category, as well as any other criterion that has the purpose or effect of restricting, eliminating the recognition, use or exercise, under equal terms, of human rights.